In 2017, Credit Agricole underwent a major technological change, which significantly simplified the architecture of IT systems. The implementation of the change itself was to limit access to the bank's services for 64 hours – to customers and partners. At the same time, it was associated with the risk of post-implementation difficulties. Since 2016, the bank has been preparing for this situation in order to effectively and in advance inform customers and partners about planned unavailability. Its objective was also to build and tighten internal processes in order to be able to react quickly in crisis situations.
– Technological change was of great importance for the bank. In the short term, it did not involve any benefits for customers, but its implementation required switching off CA24 services. In this situation, the communication challenge was to gain acceptance of customers in the face of the interruption in access to services, as well as to protect the bank's image and maintain good relations with stakeholders. – says Agnieszka Gorzkowicz from Credit Agricole bank, author and coordinator of the awarded project.
"Złote Spinacze" is the most important public relations contest in Poland. It selects and rewards the most effective, the most creative and reliable, the best prepared and implemented campaigns and communication activities. The Jury of "Golden Paper Clips" awarded the Credit Agricole project "Silver Paper Clip" in the sector category "Finance" and "Bronze Paper Clip" in the main category "Anti-crisis and/or crisis communication". (in this category the jury did not award the first place).
– We were very pleased with the information about the nominations for the award. And we will surely remember the announcement of the results for a long time. – says Agnieszka Gorzkowicz. – When preparing this project, we were guided by little more popular values: respect, honesty, loyalty. The awards prove that Credit Agricole's strategy of putting the customer at the centre of its activities can be seen not only on paper, but also on a daily basis.
The awards have already been granted to Credit Agricole this year. In November, the bank won prizes in competitions: "MIXX Awards 2018". (for the account and TeleBot campaign) and "Kreatura 2018". (for an idea for a campaign of accounts and for "mastering the video format of the future").